A whole load of candidates have been nominated in the past week. In Calgary, three Alberta Liberal candidates were nominated last night Laura Shutiak in Calgary-Fish Creek, Lori Czerwinski in Calgary-Lougheed, and John Roggeveen in Calgary-Shaw.
The saga of Craig Chandler and his victory in the Calgary-Egmont Progressive Conservative nomination continues as the constituency President is now demanding a seat at the table when Ed Stelmach and the PC Inner Circle meet to decide Chandler's fate this weekend.
In Edmonton...
Edmonton-Ellerslie - Naresh Bhardwaj was nominated as the PC candidate to take on Alberta Liberal MLA Bharat Agnihotri in the next election. Bhardwaj ran for the nominated against 1993 Edmonton-Ellerslie PC candidate Bas Roopnarine and 2001 PC candidate Sukhi Randhawa (of 'Booze for Votes' fame). In 2004, Edmonton-Ellerslie was a three-way race between Agnihotri, Tory Gurnam Dodd, and ND Marilyn Assheton-Smith.
Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood - Former Liberal/Independent/PC MLA Andrew Beniuk defeated T.J. Keil for the Tory nod. Though I was rooting for T.J. (yes, I was rooting for a Tory), I think Beniuk's name recognition might help him do decently against ND leader Brian Mason in the now merged constituency that Beniuk formerly represented.
Edmonton-Meadowlark - The Alberta Liberals have nominated Debbie Cavaliere to run for the spot of retiring MLA Maurice Tougas. Cavaliere will take on PC candidate Raj Sherman in what is sure to be a hot and probably close race. In 2004, Maurice Tougas surprised many when he defeated backbench Tory MLA Bob Maskell by a slim margin of +100 votes. Edmonton-Meadowlark was also a close race in 2001 when Maskell unseated Alberta Liberal MLA Karen Leibovici.
Edmonton-Mill Woods - The Tories have nominated Carl Benito to run against Alberta Liberal MLA Weslyn Mather. Benito ran unsuccessfully against MLA Don Massey in Edmonton-Mill Woods in 2001. Mather was elected in 2004 with a margin of +2,000 votes over Naresh Bhardwaj (who is now the nominated PC candidate in Edmonton-Ellerslie).
Other recent nominations include Robin Campbell for the Tories in West Yellowhead and Horst Schreiber for the Alberta Liberals in Battle River-Wainwright.
Click here for an up to date list of Alberta provincial election candidates.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
more alberta nominations.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
16 comments:
What's with all the seperate school board trustees running for the Alberta Liberals? Did Kevin Taft become leader of the religous opposition all of a sudden?
Seems more like a slate of candidates for the Christian Heritage Party than for anything close to progressive.
Oh wait. It's the Liberals. They aren't progressive. Their just a waste of our time.
Agreed. With moderates like Craig Chandler embracing Ed Stelmach's Progressive Conservatives, it is very clear who the moderate progressive alternative is.
Yes, let's all get so hung up on Craig Chandler that we allow the Alberta Liberals to run crappy candidates because "Hey, anything is better than this Chandler guy, right?"
Wrong. If the Alberta Liberals want my vote, which they had last election and have since lost, they need to be more than Tory-lite. And running a bunch of Catholic school board trustees as candidates is not going to win my vote or many other progressives.
While we're on the subject of nominated candidates, why is Kevin Taft's team so far behind? According to their own site they only have 42 candidates in place... roughly half of what's needed and a lot fewer than the Tories who have almost filled their slate.
How can you people act like Kevin Taft's team is a government in waiting when they can't even find enough candidates to FORM a government?!?
Let's do Alberta a favour and quit pretending that the Liberal party can ever do well outside of the big cities and their suburbs.
Albertans deserve a better opposition than Taft's Team.
"Albertans deserve a better opposition than Taft's Team."
Agreed. Ed Stelmach will make a great official opposition leader (or will it be Craig Chandler, Ted Morton?).
Two-thirds of Albertans live in the cities and suburbs but get less than half of the seats in the Leg. This will only change when we get rid of the rural Tories running the Premier's Office. Until the Tories are out, urban Alberta will be shut out.
It looks like the large majority of candidates from all parties have been acclaimed. Some races in the Liberals and Conservatives, but that looks like it. Some decent candidates have stepped up for both parties though.
Well now that was an incredibly silly argument wasn't it?
You're suggesting that the cities are shut out because of the Tories, who maintain power because rural areas have too many seats.
Yet you suggest Kevin Taft will somehow win the next election and the PC's will be thrust into the role of opposition.
How exactly is that going to happen without any rural seats? Be honest with yourself. It can not happen.
Ed Stelmach will not lose government, not in this election. Maybe in 2 or 3 elections the Tories could be beaten, but not by an Alberta Liberal party that refuses to see beyond the big city boundaries.
In the meantime, Albertans will need an official opposition with teeth. A party and some MLA's that make the most of their caucus resources, people that bring in quality researchers, people that dig in and find the skeletons the Tories are trying to hide. And since the last election only Brian Mason's NDP have fit that bill.
That is why I'll be voting NDP this time around.
I gave Kevin Daft a chance when I voted for his crew last time and they have spent three and a half long years blowing it. It's time for some change where change is actually possible. Let's get a new official opposition in place.
"That is why I'll be voting NDP this time around."
Haha. That's hilarious. Brian Mason, you should quit posting anonymously!
Albertans need an official opposition party that can form government. That is NOT the NDP. The Liberals have grown outside Edmonton. The NDP placed with 1% and 3% of the vote in the summer by-elections. The NDP are not an alternative, the are a noisy fringe.
You're not wrong Calgary Voice, the NDP are not ready to form government... but neither are the Alberta Liberals. Don't tell me about how your weak victory in a by-election Joe Public didn't care about is a sign of your impending ascent to the government side because that's some straight up BS.
Let's look at the issues. When the Klein Tories wanted to turn a blind eye to CN's nasty oil spill out at Wabumun Lake, who was the first MLA to actually go onsite? David Eggen, NDP member for Edmonton - Calder.
When the Stelmach Tories were spying on average Albertans and locking them out of public hearings that would affect the land they own, who was the only MLA onsite? The NDP's David Eggen.
These are just the first two of about 100 examples I've witnessed over the last four years. And sure, you can say that I'm Brian Mason posting anonymously or throw whatever other guano you want at me, but the point still stands that I am someone who voted Liberal last time and won't be voting that way again. Sure, take all the pot shots at me you want. It's the half reason I won't be voting for your team again. You (the AB Liberal collective) need to learn how to listen to people outside of your party members. You need better candidates. You need more nominated candidates, and you need them nominated a year ago, not now. You need those candidates out on doorsteps, telling people why they should support them. And you need a leader who people might actually want to see in the premier's office.
Until you get any of those things? Keep enjoying between 10-20 seats. I know its worked well for your party for the last 100 years, so I won't hold my breath expecting any change.
Ditch Taft and even I would consider the Liberals, the man is a waste of the air we breath. Better yet, bring back Dinning. Hell even morton as crazy as he is, had some pretty good ideas. I just couldn't bring myself to vote for him......anyone but everyones second choice Stelmach.
Hey Anonymous (Brian Mason? NDP Staffer?) - quit posting NDP press releases as comments, it gets tired fast.
I love your comment board, Dave.
Socialists fighting socialists... the race for 2nd place sure is fun to watch ;)
As opposed to Craig Chandler?
Fran in Medicine Hat observes:
Several Political Scientists who study election data have suggested that Ralph Klein as leader of the PC Party resulted in a median "added" vote count in Alberta Constituencies of 1200 votes. That's 1200 voters who voted PC solely on Klein, with no evidence that policy or issues were considered. It is the "sheep" mentality that has allowed one-party rule to continue past its "due-date" in Alberta, and is referred to as the Klein factor." We will be electing a Liberal in the next election in my constituency as the Liberal candidate here came in just shy of that 1200 votes - a swing of 600 plus in the next election will result in a Liberal victory. In 2004 the Liberals came in second in 54 Constituencies and in the many of these the margin was within striking distance when considering the "Klein factor." Add to the mix a Stelmach led PC Party, the Royalty Backlash, the rural nervousness on Bill 46 (despite massive amendments) and Stelmach's blatant "big-spending, vote-buying, no-plan for savings" initiatives, many insiders in the Progressive Conservative Party are nervous that their grip on power is weakening. The fear factor among old time Tories in my community is being compared to the 1993 Decore run at power, which faded DURING the election with Decore's abortion fumble and Ralph's "beer parlour" popularity. Taft has been very impressive when visiting my mid-size city - he is perceived as more competent, more intelligent and more democratic than Stelmach who has been represented as part of the "Klein era" to his core...but without the charm and connection to voters. With all our wealth, Albertans in my community sense that things are "not quite right" and are moving to the "undecided category." Many will vote for Taft and our Liberal candidate, and many others will just not vote!
Ah… sweeping generalizations about Catholics: how “progressive” of Mr. Anonymous.
The NDP can have him.
dave,
Just curious, but how many Liberal nominations have been contested? Let's even set aside those seats where the current MLA is a Liberal. I am just curious as to the level of competition among civilians seeking to run on the Alberta Liberal ticket.
Knock the PCs if you will, but there you have contested races in practically all constituencies where the sitting MLA is not a Tory. And even then, it is still permitted to challenge the sitting incumbent. Sitting MLA Tony Abbott lost the PC nomination to the Mayor of Drayton Valley.
Polls are just that, and both Taft and Stelmach can ignore them. But it is telling when you have to reach to find anyone - just ONE person - to take the Liberal ticket in the coming election. And yet muliple persons will seek the chance to run against a Liberal (or NDP) incumbent.
While I would be on the other side of the spectrum as the NDP-friendly anonymous poster, he has a point in that regard. What is also interesting is the lack of public support of former high-profile Alberta Liberals for the current regime - people with some authority like Bruseker, Percy, and Nicol.
I'm pretty sure the Liberals allow sitting MLAs to face a contested nomination. As for the notion that the PCs are able to attract more candidates, that has much to do with the institutionalized one-party dominance of political power in this province. Parties don't go to "Candidates R Us" and pick people up--people gravitate toward where they think they can win. There are exceptions, of course, and that doesn't discount the work that parties do have to do to attract candidates, but there are political power structures at play here.
Post a Comment